Configurable camera stimulation and metrology apparatus and method therefor

ABSTRACT

A camera metrology apparatus including a base section, a drive section with independent drive axes, and an actuation platform having a camera mount, with a predetermined camera mount interface for a camera, and a camera stimulation source mount, with a predetermined stimulation source mount interface, and being coupled to one of the drive axes to generate relative motion between each interface effecting metrology measurement of the camera, wherein the actuation platform has a selectable configuration between different predetermined platform configurations, each with different predetermined mounting location characteristics changing a predetermined mounting location of the camera mount interface or stimulation source mount interface and effecting a different predetermined metrology measurement characteristic, and the camera mount and the camera stimulation source mount are arranged to define a repeatable relative position between the camera mount interface and stimulation source mount interface in each platform configuration and effect free selection between each platform configuration.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. Non-provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 16/257,272, filed Jan. 25, 2019, (now U.S. Pat. No.11,089,292), which is a non-provisional of, and claims the benefit of,U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/622,625 filed on Jan. 26,2018, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The exemplary embodiments generally relate to optical testing equipment,more particularly, to optical test equipment for testing cameras.

2. Brief Description of Related Developments

Small aperture cameras are ubiquitous and can be found in, e.g., cellphones, web cams, drone surveillance, machine vision systems, andautomobiles. Generally testing of the small aperture cameras isperformed with a test station or fixture that is configured for thespecific camera system being tested and for a specific test beingperformed on the camera. Generally, each type/configuration of smallcamera system has a dedicated test stations where each of the dedicatedtest stations has a specific configuration for a particular test to beperformed on the small camera system. Having multiple series of teststations for each type/configuration of small camera system where eachtest station in a series is specifically tailored for a particular testleads to increased equipment and maintenance costs. In addition, themany test stations generally needed to test each type/configuration ofsmall camera system requires floor space for the operation and storageof the test equipment.

It would be advantageous to have a small camera system that isreconfigurable for and able to perform multiple tests on differenttypes/configurations of small camera systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and other features of the disclosed embodiment areexplained in the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a schematic block diagram of a camera metrology apparatus inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1B is a more detailed schematic block diagram of the camerametrology apparatus of FIG. 1 in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D are perspective illustrations of the camerametrology apparatus of FIG. 1 in a Cartesian configuration in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure; FIG. 2A illustrates the camerametrology apparatus in an exemplary Cartesian home position for a fixeddevice under test; FIG. 2D illustrates the camera metrology apparatus inan exemplary Cartesian home position for a moving device under test;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a Cartesian coordinate system ofthe camera metrology apparatus of FIGS. 2A-2C projected onto a camerasensor in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D are perspective illustrations of the camerametrology apparatus of FIG. 1 in a spherical polar configuration inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure; FIG. 2A illustrates the camerametrology apparatus in an exemplary spherical polar home position for afixed device under test; FIG. 2D illustrates the camera metrologyapparatus in an exemplary spherical polar home position for a movingdevice under test;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a spherical polar coordinatesystem of the camera metrology apparatus of FIGS. 4A-4C projected onto acamera sensor in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6A is a perspective illustration of a portion of the camerametrology apparatus of FIG. 1 in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6B is a perspective illustration of a portion of the camerametrology apparatus of FIG. 1 in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of an accessory device of the camerametrology apparatus of FIG. 1 in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 7B and 7C are cross-sectional plan views of the accessory deviceof FIG. 7A in first and second configurations in accordance with aspectsof the present disclosure;

FIGS. 7D, 7E, and 7F are a perspective views of portions of theaccessory device of FIG. 7A in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7G is a schematic illustration of multiple accessory devices ofFIG. 7A mounted to a stationary test apparatus in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C, and 8D are perspective illustrations of an enclosureof the camera metrology apparatus of FIG. 1 in accordance with aspectsof the present disclosure; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary method in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate exemplary block diagrams of a camerametrology apparatus 100 in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. Although the aspects of the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to the drawings, it should be understood thatthe aspects of the present disclosure can be embodied in many forms. Inaddition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materialscould be used.

The aspects of the present disclosure described herein provide anoptical test instrument (i.e., the camera metrology apparatus 100) formetrological testing of small aperture cameras/camera systems (referredto herein as a device under test 111), such as to determine or otherwisetest camera/image sensor integration in and performance of the deviceunder test 111. The camera metrology apparatus 100 is configured toproject a target 301, 302 (FIGS. 3 and 5 ) onto a camera (or image)sensor 300 (FIGS. 3 and 5 ) of the device under test 111 over a widerange of arbitrary object distances and field angles and to rapidly movefrom one field point to the next. The camera metrology apparatus 100 isconfigurable so as to have a number of freely selectable performancecharacteristics that include, but are not limited to, measuring theModulation Transfer Function (MTF) at any field point on the camerasensor 300, through-focus MTF, geometric imaging parameters such asdistortion (or other suitable geometric imaging parameters), stray lightperformance, the Signal Transfer Function, chromatic functions,camera-to-mount line of sight, and camera-to-mount roll.

Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 3, and 5 , as will be described below, thecamera metrology apparatus 100 includes a common configurable platform101 that includes multiple movable stages. The multiple movable stageseffect various movements of the camera metrology apparatus 100 forperforming testing with the freely selectable performancecharacteristics. For example, the camera metrology apparatus 100 isconfigured to scan, e.g., the camera sensor 300 of the device under test111 in two degrees of freedom in one of a Cartesian coordinate system(e.g., in a Cartesian configuration as shown in FIGS. 2A-3 ) and aspherical polar coordinate system (e.g., in a spherical polarconfiguration as shown in FIG. 4A-5 ) by either moving the device undertest 111 or holding the device under test 111 stationary.

The camera metrology apparatus 100 may include one or more accessorydevices 110 to facilitate testing performed with each of the freelyselectable performance characteristics. For example, a projector(generally referred to as projector 110P) projects the target 301(cross-hairs), 302 (cross-edges), or any other suitable target, on thecamera sensor 300 of the device under test 111 for MTF measurements. Thetarget 301, 302 may be projected from a projector 110P such as a targetprojector 110TP or a focusing target projector 110FTP. The camerametrology apparatus 100 includes one or more mounting devices (that areconfigured to be removably and repeatably mounted to the camerametrology apparatus 100), such as a projector roll assembly 150 to whichthe projector 110P may be mounted. The projector roll assembly 150 mayform an X-axis stage of the actuation platform 167 of the camerametrology apparatus 100.

The projector roll assembly 150 has a projector interface thatinterfaces with a mounting seat (or seating surface(s)) of the accessorydevice 110 and serves as a datum surface for repeatable mounting of theprojector 110P to the projector roll assembly so that the projector 110Pis bolt down bore-sighted (e.g., bore-sighted upon mounting theprojector 110P to the common configurable platform 101) to the opticalsystem (such as the entrance pupil of the device under test 111) and/orthe camera sensor 300 of the device under test 111. The projectorinterface 283 (see, e.g., FIG. 2A) of the roll projector assembly 150also “clocks” or rotationally orients the projector 110P so that thetarget 301, 302 has a predetermined rotational orientation relative tothe cameras sensor 300 of the device under test 111. For example,referring to FIG. 7A, the projector 110P, such as the focusing targetprojector 110FTP, includes a housing 700F that has a coupling surface799. The interface 283 of the projector roll assembly 150 includes acoupling surface 283S that interfaces with the coupling surface 799 ofthe projector 110P, where the coupling surfaces 283S, 799 form amounting interface that positionally aligns (e.g., in pitch and yaw) theprojector 110P relative to the projector roll assembly 150 interface260. The coupling surfaces 283S, 799 also include reciprocal matingfeatures (e.g., a protrusion 797 and recess or slot 798) thatpositionally align the projector 110P (e.g., in roll about the X axis)relative to, for example, a rotational home or zero position of theinterface 283 about the X-axis. The projector roll assembly 150 may alsoprovide rotation of the projector 110P (e.g., through actuation of theX-drive motor 109) so that the target 301, 302 maintains thepredetermined rotational orientation relative to the camera sensor 300(e.g., the projector roll assembly provides field de-rotation) as thedevice under test 111 or the projector 110P is moved during metrologicaltesting.

As another example, camera sensor 300 stray light and nailing glaremeasurements may be performed with any other suitable peripheralaccessory device 110 such as stimulus source 110L. The stimulus source110L may be a variable luminance source (VLS) or any suitable device forstimulating the camera sensor 300. The camera metrology apparatus 100includes one or more mounting devices 141 (see FIG. 4B) (that areconfigured to be removably and repeatably mounted to the camerametrology apparatus 100), to which the stimulus source may be mounted.In other aspects the stimulus source 110L may be configured to beremovably and repeatably mounted to the camera metrology apparatus 100(e.g., the stimulus source 110L may include an integral mount similar tomounting device 141). The one or more mounting devices 141 may beinterchangeably mounted to, for example, a base 102 of the camerametrology apparatus at predetermined mounting stations 200-206 (see FIG.2A) so that the stimulus source 110L has a predetermined orientation(e.g., relative to the device under test 111) at the respectivepredetermined mounting station 200-206. The predetermined mountingstations 200-206 may include any suitable kinematic couplings 600(similar to those shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B) for orienting the stimulussource 110L. The predetermined mounting stations 200-206, and theaccessory devices 110, may also be configured so that acontroller/control system 190 (described below and generally referred toas controller 190—FIG. 1B) registers the respective accessory device 110at the respective predetermined mounting station 200-206, whereregistration includes automatic registration of one or more of the poseof the accessory device 110, the type of accessory device 110 (e.g., atype of stimulus source), a positional calibration of the accessorydevice 110 at the respective predetermined mounting station 200-206 withthe accessory device 110 disposed on the common configurable platform101, and a common device under test scan/scan routing at the respectivepredetermined mounting station 200-206.

Other accessory devices 110, such as a calibrated stimulus source formeasuring the signal transfer function and a stimulus source formeasuring chromatic functions, fixed focus, fixed target projectors(which may or may not include collimators), adjustable focus targetprojectors (which may or may include collimators), LED (light emittingdiode) illuminators, QTH (quartz tungsten halogen) illuminators, VLS(variable light source) illuminators (e.g., for calibrated luminance andlow light response measures), thermal IR (infra-red) source andprojectors (e.g., for long wavelength infra-red), projection modules(e.g., for bolt-down bore-sighting where the camera may image theentrance pupil 111P), laser pointer modules (e.g., to indicate entrancepupil 111P location), stray light modules, point sources for veilingglare measurements, and relative illumination and chromatic responsemodules, may be similarly configured. The accessory devices 110 may bemounted as desired to the common configurable platform 101 by coupling,without further calibration of the accessory devices 110, at thepredetermined mounting station 200-206 and the resulting camerametrology apparatus 100 configuration is automatically detected toeffect metrological testing of the device under test 111 based on apredetermined protocol. In another aspect, one or more accessory devices110 may be pre-positioned on the common configurable platform 101depending on the device under test 111 and test protocol to generate abespoke test protocol.

Referring now to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A-2C, and 4A-4C, the camera metrologyapparatus 100 includes the common configurable platform 101 having abase section 102, an actuation platform 167, a drive section 105, and acontroller 190. The camera metrology apparatus 100 also includes atleast one device under test mount 140 and at least one accessory devicemount (e.g., such as the projector roll assembly 150 and mountingdevices 141). In one aspect, the device under test mounts 140 and theaccessory device mounts include controlled couplings 600 (see FIGS. 6Aand 6B as described herein) that decouple image data of, for example,the projector 110P onto the device under test 111 camera sensor 300,from encoder data of the drive section 105. For example, the image datamay be carried by a separate data bus (e.g., image data control bus 187)than the motion control data (which is carried by motion control databus 188) (See FIG. 1B). In one aspect, the image data may be handled bycontrol modules or processors 190AD, 190BD, 190CD, 190DD that aresubstantially independently from control modules or processors 190AM,190BM, 190CM, 190DM that handle the encoder data for motion control. Ina similar manner, data transfer to and from the accessory devices 110may also be handled independently of the encoder data such as by controlmodules or processors 190AA, 190BA, 190CA, 190DA. This provides forlower control capacities and demand for data transfer.

The base section 102 may have any suitable shape and size to account foroperation of the camera metrology apparatus 100 in both a horizontalorientation and a vertical (e.g., upright) orientation or at anysuitable angle there between. For example, in the vertical orientation(see FIGS. 8A-8D) the base section 102 is oriented substantially uprightwith the device under test 111, held by a predetermined device undertest mount interface of a device under test mount 140 mount, orientedwith a camera sensor 300 of the device under test 111 in a substantiallyhorizontal orientation. In the horizontal orientation (see FIGS. 2A-2Cand 4A-4C), the base section 102 is oriented substantially horizontallywith the device under test 111, held by the predetermined camera mountinterface of the camera mount 140, oriented with the camera sensor 300of the device under test 111 in a substantially vertical orientation.The vertical orientation may facilitate a smaller footprint (e.g.,occupies less floor space compared to the horizontal orientation) andprovide for serial placement of multiple cameral metrology apparatus 100in rows and/or columns arrangement within a fabrication or testingfacility. In other aspects, the camera metrology apparatus 100 may beoperated in any suitable plane that lies between a horizontal plane anda vertical plane.

The base section 102 is illustrated in the Figures as being fixed but,in other aspects the base may be movable (e.g., the base may berotatable in the θ direction about the Y axis and/or be movable linearlyalong the Y axis, with respect to the global reference frame which isbased on the drive section housing defining the Y axis (θdirectionrotation)). If the base is movable, the drive section housing (such as ahousing of the θ drive motor 107) may form or otherwise define a seatingsurface or base on which the base section 102 is mounted. The basesection 102 at least in part defines an azimuth stage of the actuationplatform 167 as described herein.

The base section 102 includes a mounting surface 270. The mountingsurface 270 includes different predetermined mounting stations 200-206(also described below) at predetermined locations on the mountingsurface 270. The different predetermined mounting stations 200-206include controlled couplings 600 that have deterministic couplingfeatures 601, 603 (or 602, 604 see FIG. 6A), such as kinematiccouplings, that provide for the repeatable deterministic coupling of theat least one device under test mount 140 and at least one accessorydevice mount (e.g., such as the projector roll assembly 150 and mountingdevices 141) to the base section 102. The controlled coupling 600 areposition deterministic to positionally fix the at least one device undertest mount 140 and at least one accessory device mount in space. Inother aspects, the controlled coupling may be a relaxed kinematiccoupling that may have a relaxed pose determination to allow limitedfreedom of movement in a linear traverse direction or rotation about apredetermined reference axis. The different predetermined mountingstations 200-206 also include any suitable power interface (e.g., plugs,socket, etc.), such as for example suitable for CAN bus controlarchitecture. Each of the predetermined mounting stations 200-206 mayhave a unique identification registered with the controller 190, wherethe controller 190 may be programmed with positional data for thedifferent accessory devices 110 and/or devices under test 111 for thedifferent predetermined locations of the different predeterminedmounting stations 200-206 with respect to the common configurationplatform 101 (e.g., a 0 position or other suitable positionalinformation of each of the different predetermined mounting stations200-206). Any suitable marking indicia 299 may also be provided each ofthe different predetermined mounting stations 200-206 so that a user ofthe camera metrology apparatus 100 can identify the differentpredetermined mounting stations 200-206 as those stations are identifiedin the controller 190.

As will be described below, the actuation platform 167 is operablycoupled to at least one of the multiple independent drive axes so as togenerate relative motion with more than one independent degrees offreedom between the predetermined device under test mount interface andthe predetermined accessory device mount interface effecting metrologymeasurement of the device under test 111 with each of the more than oneindependent degrees of freedom. As an example, the drive section 105includes multiple independent drive axes mounted to the base section102. In one aspect, at least one of the more than one independentdegrees of freedom of the actuation platform 167 effecting a metrologymeasurement is actuated by one of the multiple independent drive axesarranged so as to generate substantially infinite rotation. For example,at least one of the multiple independent drive axes has a drive shaft280 including a slip ring power coupling 281. The drive section 105 hasat least one drive axis that includes a harmonic drive 106HD, 107HD,108HD, 109HD, where the at least one drive axis defines at least one ofthe more than one independent degrees of freedom of the actuationplatform. For example, the drive section 105 includes a θ-drive motor106, a Φ-drive motor 107, an X-drive motor 109, and a Z-drive motor 108where one or more of these motors may be harmonic drives 106HD-109HD. Inother aspects, any one or more of the actuable stages described hereinmay be manually operated or motorized, with the use of, for example, anysuitable encoder 106E-109E.

The drive motors 106-109 may be any suitable motors including rotarybrushless DC (direct current), rotary brushless AC (alternatingcurrent), etc. and may be of any suitable motor type (e.g., steppermotors, servo motors, rotary worm drives, etc.). Each of the drivemotors 106-109 may have any suitable encoders 106E-109E, including butnot limited to optical encoders, laser interferometers, etc. Theencoders may provide one or more of absolute and incremental positioningof the respective drive motors and/or actuable stage of the camerametrology apparatus 100. The encoders, such as the absolute encoder,provides for positional recovery of the camera metrology apparatus 100after a power loss, actuation of an emergency stop switch, and/or otherstoppage event that results in the camera metrology apparatus 100 beingplaced in a “cold” start pose (e.g., a pose of the camera metrologyapparatus 100 where the positional relationship between the actuationstages is not known). For example, referring to FIGS. 1A, 2A, 2D, 4A, 4Deach drive motor 106-109 may have a home or zero position at which therotational position of the drive shaft is known with respect to, forexample, a fixed point on the motor stator. These home or zero positionsof the drive motors 106-109 may orient, for example, respective ones ofthe accessory device (such as the target projectors 110P), the rotor103, the turret 104 and the driven member 650 of the turret 104 in knownlocations relative to each other to facilitate programmed movement ofthe camera metrology device 100 for carrying out metrological testing(e.g., the programmed movements may be based on the home positions ofthe actuations stages). The absolute encoder of each of the drive motors106-109 may be set so as to have a zero location that corresponds to thehome location of the motor. As such, when there is a stoppage event thatresults in a cold start, the absolute encoders may be read by thecontroller 190 and the drive motors may be automatically actuated toreturn the respective actuation stages to the respective home or zeropositions so that the camera metrology apparatus is ready formetrological testing substantially immediately upon startup. In otheraspects, the absolute encoder may be read after a stoppage event thatresults in a cold start so that the positions of the actuation stagesare determined (e.g., the controller self identifies the pose ofactuation stages relative to the home positions) for continuing ametrological test that was in process at the time of the stoppage event.

The drive section 105 is illustrated in the Figures as having a modularconfiguration where one or more of the drive motors 106-109 is a drivemodule (e.g., a separate, independently mounted drive). The drivesection, as described herein, provides two or three degrees of freedom(and in some aspects, four degrees of freedom) for driving the variousstages (e.g., the azimuth stage, the elevation stage, the projector rollstage, and in some aspects, the Z stage) of the actuation platform.

Each of the drive motors 106-109 may be coupled to the controller 190 inany suitable manner, such as through the CAN bus (or other suitablecontrol communication architecture), for receiving control commands toeffect movements of the different portions of the camera metrologyapparatus 100 as described herein.

The azimuth stage includes the θ-drive motor 106 and the rotor 103. Theθ-drive motor 106 drives rotation of the rotor 103. In other aspects theθ-drive motor 106 may drive rotation of the base 102 if the base ismovable as described herein. The casing 106C of the θ-drive motor 106may be mounted to the base section 102 in any suitable manner fordriving a drive shaft 280 (FIG. 2B) where the axis of rotation of thedrive shaft 280 is coincident with the Y axis. In other aspects, such aswhere the base 102 is movable, the casing 106C of the θ-drive motor 106may be mounted to any suitable surface and where the casing 106C forms(or an output of the motor, such as when a harmonic drive) a seatingsurface for the base 102. In one aspect a slip ring power coupling 281may be provided on the drive shaft 280 for providing power to theactuation platform 167 and the accessory devices 110 and/or devicesunder test 110 mounted thereto. The slip ring power coupling 280 mayalso provide for substantially infinite rotation of the rotor 103 aboutthe Y axis. In one aspect, the θ-drive motor 106 is the harmonic drive106HD, where the output of the harmonic drive 106HD is coupled to therotor 103 and has any suitable speed reduction. Inclusion of theharmonic drive 106HD in the azimuth stage provides the azimuth stagewith unimpaired operation both in the horizontal orientation (e.g., withrotation of the rotor 103 about the Y axis in a horizontal plane) andvertical orientation (e.g., with rotation the rotor 103 about the Y axisin a vertical plane) of the camera metrology apparatus 100.

The elevation stage includes the turret 104 and the Φ-drive motor 107.The Φ-drive motor 107 drives rotation, such as through a drive shaft, ofa driven member 650 of the turret 104. The Φ-drive motor 107 may bemounted to the turret 104 in any suitable manner. In one aspect, theΦ-drive motor 107 is mounted to the turret so as to be enclosed within acasing 104C of the turret. In one aspect, the Φ-drive motor 107 is theharmonic drive 107HD, where the output of the harmonic drive 107HD iscoupled to or forms the driven member 650 and has any suitable speedreduction. Inclusion of the harmonic drive 107HD in the elevation stageprovides the elevation stage with unimpaired operation both in thehorizontal orientation and vertical orientation of the camera metrologyapparatus 100. Here, the actuation platform 167 has two degrees offreedom driven by two independent drive axes of the drive section 105,where each of the two independent drive axes have a harmonic drive whichmay provide for operation of the camera metrology apparatus 100 in bothvertical (e.g., upright) and horizontal orientations.

The turret 104 (and elevation stage at least partially defined thereby)is coupled/mounted to the azimuth stage in any suitable manner. Forexample, in one aspect and referring also to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the rotor103 includes a shuttle 140 that forms a seating surface 625 for theelevation stage. The seating surface 625 defines a datum that iscontrolled in a known location with respect to the Y axis of the azimuthstage. In one aspect, the elevation stage may have two degrees offreedom (e.g., rotation about the R axis and linear movement in the Zdirection), while in other aspects the elevation stage may have onedegree of freedom (e.g., rotation about the R axis). In still otheraspects, the elevation stage may have three degrees of freedom (e.g.,rotation about the R axis, linear movement in the Z direction, andlinear movement in the M direction—see FIG. 6A). In yet other aspects,the elevation stage may have two degrees of freedom (e.g., rotationabout the R axis and linear movement in the M direction—see FIG. 6B).

Where the elevation stage has two degrees of freedom (as illustrated inFIG. 6A) the rotor 103 may include a Z-axis stage that includes aprismatic joint 290 and a shuttle 140 that is movably mounted to theprismatic joint 290 so that the shuttle 140 is movable along the rotor103 in the Z-direction. The prismatic joint 290 provides for controlledand repeatable traverse (relative to the Y axis) of the shuttle 140 inthe Z direction. The seating surface 625 may also include controlledcoupling 600 (described below in greater detail) which forms a datum forcontrollably and repeatably locating the turret 104 on the shuttle 140so that, e.g., the driven member 650 is controlled in a known locationwith respect to the Y axis. In some aspects, the shuttle 140 and turret104 may be formed as an integral unit (as illustrated in FIGS. 2B, 2C,4B, 4C). Where the shuttle 140 is integral to the turret 104 theprismatic joint 290 may form the seating surface 625A, that issubstantially similar to seating surface 625, that defines a datum thatis controlled in a known location with respect to the Y axis of theazimuth stage. The shuttle 140 may include any suitable lockingmechanism (that engages the prismatic joint 290 or the rotor 103) tolock the position of the shuttle 140 in the Z-direction relative to theY axis or other devices mounted to the base section 102. In one aspect,referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the shuttle 140 may include a base portion140S and a movable portion 140M that is movably coupled to the baseportion 140S in any suitable manner, such as with a prismatic joint. Anysuitable motor (similar to any one of the motors described herein) andencoders (similar to any one of the encoders described herein) may beprovided in one or more of the base portion 140A and movable portion140M so that the movable portion 140M traverses along the M axis. The Maxis may be transverse or orthogonal to the Z axis and be disposed in aplane that is substantially perpendicular to the Y axis. In otheraspects, the movable portion 140M may be manually positioned along the Maxis with or without the use of encoders.

In one aspect, the movement of the shuttle 140 in the Z-direction alongthe prismatic joint 290 is manually operated. Where movement of theshuttle 140 is manually operated, the rotor may be provided with anysuitable measured graduations, hard stops, or other locatingdevices/aids for positioning the shuttle 140 in the Z-direction (anddevices mounted thereto) relative to the Y axis or any devices undertest 111 or accessory devices 110 mounted to the base section 102. Inother aspects, a Z-drive motor 108 may be provided for automatedmovement of the shuttle 140 along the prismatic joint 290 in theZ-direction. The Z-drive motor 108 is illustrated as a motor module thatis separate from the motor module formed by the Φ-drive motor 107however, in other aspects the Z-drive motor 108 and the Φ-drive motor107 may be an integral unit. The Z-drive motor 108 may be coupled with alead screw drive 666 (or any other suitable screw drive such as a ballscrew drive) for driving the shuttle 140 along the prismatic joint 290in the Z direction. Where the Z-drive is manually operated a guide rodmay be positioned on the Z-axis stage where the screw of the screw driveis located for providing additional guidance/alignment for theZ-direction traverse of the shuttle 140.

Any suitable encoder 108E (FIG. 1A) may be provided so that a positionof the shuttle 140 and/or a position of the datum formed by controlledcoupling 600 (such as by kinematic couplings 601, 603) is in a known andcalibrated position relative to the Y axis of the azimuth stage. Theencoder may be provided along the Z axis of travel or on the rotationalaxis of the Z-drive motor 108.

Where the elevation stage includes one degree of freedom (e.g., theR-axis degree of freedom as illustrated in FIG. 6B), the rotor 103 mayinclude seating surface 625B (substantially similar to seating surface625) that is fixedly positioned on the rotor in a known location withrespect to the Y axis of the azimuth stage where the turret is coupledto the seating surface 625B with the controlled coupling 600.

While the aspects of the present disclosure are described as having theazimuth stage coupled to the base section, the Z stage coupled to theazimuth stage, the elevation stage coupled to the Z stage (or to theazimuth stage), etc., each of these actuable stages may be consideredmodules that can be stacked, in any order, in series or parallel, or inany combination thereof, to form an N×M axis optomechatronic network.The modules are scalable in a quantized fashion such that the modulesmay be used to achieve any desired optomechatronic functionality and adesired scale. The level of quantization of the scale may be particularto a desired application. It is also within the scope of the presentdisclosure that adapter modules be utilized to couple across scales,where the adapters provide or do not provide additional motion (degreesof freedom) to the camera metrology test apparatus 100. Each of themodules of the camera metrology test apparatus 100 may also becharacterized, qualified, and supplied with a Optomechatronic TransferFunction (OMTF) black-box physical plant model that may be used forsystematic analytical physical modeling of the OMTF N×M axis network.The black-box physical plant model may be a computer numerical physicsmodel in the form of dynamic link library (DLL), COM, or any othersuitable object oriented software method, function, of application, thatfully describes the physical response of the system it represents. Thismodel can include any one or more of, but is not limited to, mechanicalkinematics and dynamics (e.g., linear responses such as physical degreesof freedom, natural frequencies, etc.), electrical responses (e.g.,equivalents to the above mechanical dynamics, including transmissionline models, radio frequency, etc.), and optical responses (equivalentto the above mechanical dynamics and electrical responses, includingphoton, electron, and X-ray optics).

Referring to FIGS. 1B and 2B, control commands (or data transfer) fromthe controller 190 and power from the power supply 120 to the elevationstage (to provide data communication and/or power the Φ-drive motor 107,the a Z-drive motor 108 when equipped, an accessory device 110 mountedto the elevation stage, and/or a device under test 111 mounted to theelevation stage) is routed or fed, in one aspect, through the azimuthdrive shaft 280 to the rotor 103. As noted herein a slip ring powercoupling 281 is provided on the drive shaft 280 to provide substantiallyinfinite (e.g., greater than 360°) rotation to the rotor 103 about the Yaxis for unrestricted rotation of the θ drive motor 106 output. In oneaspect, the encoder 106E (FIG. 1A) provides both absolute andincremental pose of the rotor 103 about the Y axis. In one aspect a slipring power coupling (similar to slip ring power coupling 281) may beprovided on a drive shaft of the Φ-drive motor 107 for providing powerto the accessory devices 110 and/or devices under test 110 mountedthereto. The slip ring power coupling 280 may also provide forsubstantially infinite rotation of the driven member 650 about the Raxis.

Referring again to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A-2C, and 4A-4C, the actuationplatform 167 includes the azimuth stage, the elevation stage, and whereequipped the Z stage. The rotor 103 of the azimuth stage is coupled tothe azimuth drive module (e.g., the θ-drive motor 106) for rotationabout the Y axis. The azimuth stage forms a controllable seating surface(see, e.g., seating surfaces 625, 625A, 625B in FIGS. 6A and 6B) for theelevation drive module (e.g., the Φ-drive motor 107) and/or the Z-drivemodule (where the Z-drive stage forms a module that is separate from andmay be mounted to the rotor 103 or be integral to the rotor 103). Theazimuth stage, such as with the rotor 103, forms a controllable seatingsurface (see, e.g., seating surfaces 625, 625A, 625B in FIGS. 6A and 6B)for the elevation stage (that may depend from the elevation drive moduleor the elevation drive module may be integral to the elevation stage).

As described herein, the azimuth stage rotates in the θ directionrelative to the base section 102, that includes the differentpredetermined mounting stations 200-206 disposed on the base sectionmounting surface 270. The azimuth stage defines the relative rotationbetween the device under test 111 and the accessory devices 110, one ofwhich is mounted to the stationary base section 102 and the other ofwhich is mounted to and moves with the azimuth stage, so as to effectazimuth sweep of the accessory device 110 on the camera sensor 300 asillustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5 .

The elevation stage depends from the elevation drive module (e.g., themotor module formed by Φ-drive motor 107) or elevation drive module isintegral with the elevation stage. The elevation drive module/stage iscoupled to the azimuth stage (in other aspects, such as where themounting surface is movable by the azimuth drive, the elevation drivemodule/stage may be coupled or dependent from the azimuth drive modulecasing). In the aspects illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2C, 4A-4C, and 6A theelevation stage is seated on the seating surface 625 of the shuttle 140of the Z stage, while in the aspect illustrated in FIG. 6B, theelevation stage is seated on the seating surface 625B of the rotor 103.The seating surface 625 is defined by the shuttle 140 which is driven bythe screw drive 666 and rides along the prismatic joint 290 (such as ondeterministic rails 290R or other deterministic linear bearings). Theseating surface 625 and the seating surface 625B are in controlled knownlocations (controlled in alignment of the X, Y, θ, and Φ axes) withrespect to the different predetermined mounting stations 200-206 on thebase section 103, the azimuth rotation axis Y, the calibration of the Zstage (where equipped) or a fixed Z datum for locating the elevationdrive module/stage relative to the X, Y, θ, and Z axes). This providesfor a known repeatable location of the device under test mount interface250 and the stimulation source mount interface 283 with respect to eachother for each different predetermined mounting station 200-208location. The known repeatable location of the device under test mountinterface 250 and the stimulation source mount interface 283 furtherprovides predetermined repeatable location of the device under test 111entry pupil 111P with respect to an output aperture 110A of theaccessory device 110.

Where the device under test 111 or an accessory device 110 (such asprojector 110P) is to be moved during testing, the device under test 111or the accessory device 110 may be mounted, in any suitable manner, tothe turret 104. In one aspect, any suitable device under test mount 140may be coupled to the driven member 650, such as with controlledcoupling 600, for mounting the device under test 111 to the turret 104.In other aspects, any suitable accessory device mount (e.g., such as theprojector roll assembly 150 and mounting devices 141) may be coupled tothe driven member 650, such as with controlled coupling 600, formounting the accessory device 110 to the turret 104. In one aspect, asillustrated in FIGS. 2B, 2C, 4B, 4C, the shuttle 140 and the turret 104may be configured as a single integrated unit.

As described herein, the shuttle 140 (or the rotor 103) includes aninterface defined by the seating surface 625, 625B such that theinterface includes the deterministic controlled couplings 600 (FIG. 6A)that mate with the elevation stage (e.g., the elevation stage has areciprocal interface with corresponding controlled couplings 600 (e.g.,couplings 602, 604, 606). The deterministic controlled couplings 600provide for the repeatable positioning of the elevation drivemodule/stage relative to, e.g., the X, Y, θ, and Z axes. With referenceto FIG. 6A, the controlled couplings 600 include both mechanicalcouplings 601-604 (such as kinematic couplings) and controller couplings605, 606 that automatically register the elevation stage (and in someaspects the device under test 111 and/or the accessory device 110coupled thereto) in a plug and play manner with the controller 190through, for example, the controller area network (CAN) bus (illustratedin FIG. 1B). For example, controller 190 is communicably connected toshuttle 140 or rotor 103 so as to automatically register coupling of theelevation stage (and in some aspects the device under test 111 and/orthe accessory device 110 coupled thereto), and select the at least oneof the more than one different predetermined platform configurations ofthe common configurable platform 101. The controller couplings 605, 606may be configured for data transfer to and from the controller 190 aswell as power transfer from the power supply 120 for providing datacommunication and power to the device under test 111 or accessory device110 mounted to the elevation platform. In one aspect, the power from thepower supply 120 may only be provided to the mounting stations 200-208when a device is coupled to the respective mounting station 200-208.

The elevation stage has a deterministic coupling surface 625C (see FIGS.6A and 6B) that forms an interface for repeatably mounting a deviceunder test 111 or accessory device 110 to the elevation stage. Forexample, the driven member 650 of the turret 104 includes thedeterministic coupling surface 625C that orients the pose of the deviceunder test 111 in roll motion about the R axis of the Φ-drive motor 107module. The deterministic coupling surface 625C also orients the pose ofthe accessory device 110 (such as, e.g., the focusing target projector110FTP or any other suitable accessory device) in roll motion about theR axis of the Φ-drive motor 107 module. The Φ-drive motor 107 moduledefines an independent degree of freedom about the R axis between thedevice under test 111 and the accessory device 110 with one of thedevice under test 111 and the accessory device 110 mounted to the basesection 102 and the other mounted to the elevations stage to provideroll sweep across the camera sensor 300 as illustrated in FIG. 5 (wherethe camera metrology apparatus 100 is in a spherical polarconfiguration).

The deterministic coupling surface 625C of the driven member 650 of theturret 104 orients the pose of the device under test 111 in elevationmotion about the R axis of the Φ-drive motor 107 module. Thedeterministic coupling surface 625C also orients the pose of theaccessory device 110 (such as, e.g., the focusing target projector110FTP or any other suitable accessory device) in elevation motion aboutthe R axis of the Φ-drive motor 107 module. The Φ-drive motor 107 modulealso defines an independent degree of freedom about the R axis betweenthe device under test 111 and the accessory device 110 with one of thedevice under test 111 and the accessory device 110 mounted to the basesection 102 and the other mounted to the elevations stage to provideelevation sweep across the camera sensor 300 as illustrated in FIG. 3(where the camera metrology apparatus 100 is in a Cartesianconfiguration).

As described herein, the common configurable platform 101 has a freelyselectable/configurable and reconfigurable architecture. For example,the common configurable platform 101 includes different predeterminedmounting stations 200-208 on both the base section 102 and the actuationplatform 167 (such as on the different actuation stages describedherein) where the characteristics (e.g., location, orientation, etc.) ofeach of the different predetermined mounting stations 200-208 is knownto the controller 190. As noted above, the base section 102 has morethan one predetermined mounting stations 200-206 thereon for at leastone of the at least one device under test mount 140 and the at least onestimulation source mount (e.g., such as the projector roll assembly 150and mounting devices 141), wherein coupling of the at least one of thepredetermined device under test mount 140 and the predeterminedstimulation source mount interface with each of the more than onepredetermined mounting stations 200-206, of the base section 102,effects selection of at least one of the more than one differentpredetermined platform configurations. The azimuth stage includes thepredetermined mounting interface 208 for coupling of the elevation stageand the elevation stage includes predetermined mounting interface 207for coupling of at least one of the at least one device under test mount140 and the at least one stimulation source mount (e.g., such as theprojector roll assembly 150 and mounting devices 141). The at least onedevice under test mount 140 and the at least one stimulation sourcemount are arranged so as to define different repeatable relativepositions between a predetermined device under test mount interface 250and a predetermined stimulation source mount interface 283, each for arespective one of the different predetermined platform configurationsand different predetermined metrology measurement characteristiccorresponding thereto.

At least one of the at least one device under test mount 140 and the atleast one stimulation source mount is configured so as to be mounted indifferent predetermined mounting stations 200-206 on the base section102 or the predetermined mounting station 207 on the elevation stage(e.g., to the driven member 650 of the turret 104), and wherein at leastone of the more than one different predetermined platform configurationsis defined by the at least one of the at least one device under testmount 140 and the at least one stimulation source mount mounted in atleast one of the different predetermined mounting stations 200-206, 107on the base section 102 and/or the elevation stage. In one aspect, thepredetermined stimulation source mount comprises differentinterchangeable stimulation source mounts, each configured so as to beinterchangeably mounted to an actuable stage (e.g., such as theelevation stage or any other suitable stage) of the actuation platform167 or the base section 102, and with a different interface conformingto a different respective device under test stimulation source effectinga different corresponding camera stimulation characteristic.

The at least one accessory device (e.g., camera stimulation sources)mount (e.g., such as the projector roll assembly 150 and mountingdevices 141) and the at least one device under test mount 140 areinterchangeably mounted to the different predetermined mounting stations200-208. In one aspect, at least one of the at least one device undertest mount 140 and the at least one accessory device mount is configuredso as to be mounted in the different predetermined mountinglocations/stations 200-208 on an actuation stage (such as the turret104) of the actuation platform 167. The actuation platform 167 has aselectable configuration freely selectable between more than onedifferent predetermined platform configurations, each with a differentpredetermined mounting location characteristic changing a predeterminedmounting location relative to the actuation platform 167 of at least oneof predetermined device under test mount interface 250 (see, e.g., FIGS.2A, 2B, 2C) and a stimulation source mount interface 260 (see FIGS. 2Band 4B) and effecting a different predetermined metrology measurementcharacteristic. The at least one device under test mount 140 and the atleast one accessory device mount are arranged so as to define arepeatable relative position between the predetermined device under testmount interface 250 and the predetermined accessory device mountinterface 260 in each of the different platform configurations andeffect free selection between each different predetermined platformconfiguration.

Referring to FIGS. 2A, 2C, 4B, 4C and 6A, each of the differentaccessory device (e.g., camera stimulation sources) mount (e.g., such asthe projector roll assembly 150 and mounting devices 141) and the atleast one device under test mount 140 include controlled couplings 600that mate with corresponding controlled couplings 600 of each differentpredetermined mounting station 200-207. With reference to FIG. 6A, thecontrolled couplings 600 include both mechanical couplings 601-604 (suchas kinematic couplings) and controller couplings 605, 606 thatautomatically register (e.g., convey an identification of the respectivemount) the respective mount with the controller 190 in a plug and playmanner with the controller 190 through, for example, a controller areanetwork (CAN) bus (illustrated in FIG. 1B). In one aspect, controlledcouplings 600 may also register the accessory devices 110 (coupled to orintegral with the different accessory device mounts) and/or the deviceunder test (mounted to a respective device under test mount 140) withthe controller 180 and enable automatic plug and play with thecontroller 190 through, for example, the controller area network (CAN)bus. The interfaces of the respective mounts for the accessory devices110 and the devices under test 111 form deterministic controlledinterfaces for the respective accessory devices 110 and devices undertest 111 and define interface position datums for calibration of therespective accessory devices interfaces 283 and the device under testinterfaces 250 of the mounts; which once calibrated provide for freelyswapping (with limited or no in situ recalibration on swapping) themounts between one or more of the mounting station 200-206 locations onthe base section 102, between the mounting station 200-206 locations 206of the base and the mounting station location 207 of the elevationstage, between accessory devices/devices under test at the same mountingstation 200-207, between accessory devices/devices under test at acommon mount, and between elevation interface poses.

Still referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A-2C, and 4A-4C, the camera metrologyapparatus also includes one or more device under test mount 140 thatcouples the device under test 111 to the base 102 or the actuationplatform 167. The device under test mount 140 also includes thecontrolled couplings 600 (see FIG. 6A) as described above to, forexample, provide power, control command, and data transfer interfacesbetween the device under test 111 and the controller 190. Further, thedevice under test mount 140 includes a predetermined controlledinterface 250 (see, e.g., FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C) for the device under test111 that forms a seating surface 251 that positions the entry pupil 111P(see, e.g., FIGS. 2A, 2C, 4A, and 4C) in a predetermined positionrelative to a mount to mounting coupling reference frame. As an example,the seating surface 251 positions the entry pupil 111P coincident with(e.g., over the centers of rotation of) the axes of rotation Y and R ofthe common configurable platform 101. For example, the entry pupil 111Pmay be located substantially at the intersection of the Y and R axes.The device under test mounts 140 may be swapped (substituted one foranother) in a substantially one step coupling/decoupling to swap thedevice under test 111 with another device under test 111 to a knownrepeatable position (e.g., such as placing the entry pupil 111Psubstantially at the intersection of the Y and R axes).

The controlled couplings 600, such as the mechanical couplings 602, 604and the controller couplings 606 of the accessory device mount and thedevice under test mount 140 are located on respective mount seatingsurfaces MSS. The mount seating surface MSS and the surface to which itis coupled (e.g., the deterministic mounting surface 270 of the basesection 102 or the deterministic coupling surface 625C of the elevationstage turret 104) form a controlled interface corresponding to thedifferent accessory devices (e.g., target projectors 110P, illuminators110L, etc.). In the case of the projectors 110P, the seating surface MSSsets a position of the projector lens and a projection axis (e.g., theset the projected target location on the camera sensor 300) in a knownand predetermined position with respect to the mounting coupling of thedeterministic mounting surface 270 of the base section 102 or thedeterministic coupling surface 625C of the elevation stage turret 104and the device under test 111. In the case of other peripheral accessorydevices, such as illuminators 110L the seating surface MSS sets aposition of the illumination projection axis in a known andpredetermined position with respect to the mounting coupling of thedeterministic mounting surface 270 of the base section 102 or thedeterministic coupling surface 625C of the elevation stage turret 104and the device under test 111. In the case of the device under test 111,the seating surface MSS sets a pose of the device under test 111 (whichmay include a position of the entry pupil 111P) in a known andpredetermined position with respect to the mounting coupling of thedeterministic mounting surface 270 of the base section 102 or thedeterministic coupling surface 625C of the elevation stage turret 104and the accessory devices 110.

Mounting of the accessory devices 110 and devices under test 111 at theinterfaces formed by the respective seating surfaces MSS and arespective one of the deterministic mounting surface 270 of the basesection 102 or the deterministic coupling surface 625C of the elevationstage turret 104 and the device under test 111 results in knownrepeatable positions of the accessory devices 110 and the devices undertest 111 with respect to the mount couplings 600. This provides for theswapping (e.g., exchanging one for another, without calibration, in aone-step coupling or decoupling to a known position on the base section102 or the elevation stage) one accessory device mount (e.g., such asthe projector roll assembly 150 and mounting devices 141) with anotheraccessory device mount, swapping one device under test mount 140 withanother device under test mount 140, and/or swapping an accessory devicemount with a device under test mount 140.

The interfaces for each of the accessory device (e.g., camerastimulation sources) mount (e.g., such as the projector roll assembly150 and mounting devices 141) and the at least one device under testmount 140 are calibrated (e.g., bore-sighted and positioned angularly inpitch and yaw) for each mounting station 200-207 on the actuationplatform 167 (e.g., calibrated for the mounting stations of the basesection 102 and the elevation stage). The calibration of the differentaccessory device mounts and the different device under test mounts 140at each mounting station 200-207 may be stored in any suitable manner inthe controller 190, such as in a look-up table (the look-up table maycorrelate calibration factors with an identification of each of thedifferent predetermined (device under test and accessory) mounts andwith the identification of the mounting stations 200-207 to, e.g.,enable plug and play operability). Calibration factors stored in thelook-up table may include target image position (e.g., roll/elevationand azimuth positions) for true target positons during device under test111 testing. For example, the calibrated or known pose of the accessorydevice mount and device under test mount 140 interfaces employedrespectively to calibrate the device under test 111 (of a known imagingsensor/camera calibration). The calibrated or known pose of theaccessory device mount and device under test mount 140 interfaces mayalso be employed respectively for target projection which may establishthe bolt-down bore-sighting. For example, a calibration mirror mountedto the device under test interface (e.g., the mirror is mounted to thedevice under test mount 140) and the target projector (with acalibration target) is mounted in the accessory device mount at theaccessory interface to locate the calibration target in the calibrationmirror. Once the calibration target is properly located in thecalibration mirror, accessory devices and devices under test may bepositioned in the calibrated mounts without further calibration of theaccessory devices and devices under test.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the controller is coupled to each of theactuable stages of the camera metrology apparatus 100. The controller190 may be ganged controller having control modules that arecommunicably coupled to each other through, for example, the CAN busarchitecture. The control modules may include one or more of a basesection controller 190A, an azimuth stage controller 190B, an elevationstage controller 190D, a Z-stage controller 190E, a projector rollassembly controller 190C, a computer 190F, and a hand held controller190G. The controller 190 is communicably connected to at least one ofthe more than one predetermined mounting stations 200-208 of the basesection 102 so as to automatically register coupling of at least one ofthe device under test mount 140 and the at least one stimulation sourcemount to at least one of the more than one predetermined mountingstation 200-206, and select the at least one of the more than onedifferent predetermined platform configurations of the commonconfigurable platform 101.

The controller 190, as described herein, is programmed to know (e.g.,through the calibration of the various components of the camerametrology apparatus 100) the position of the mounting station 200-206locations on the base section 102 with respect to the orientation of theazimuth rotation axis Y and the motor 106 position (e.g., with respectto the rotor 103 of the azimuth stage). The controller 190 is alsoprogrammed to know (e.g., through the calibration of the variouscomponents of the camera metrology apparatus 100) the position of themounting station 207, 208 locations with respect to the elevation stage(e.g., the position of the elevation stage along the Z-axis and thelocation and orientation of the mounting station 207 on the turret 104).The controller also knows the device under test 111 and/or accessorydevice 110 characteristics mounted via the corresponding mount to therespective mounting station 200-207, as well as the characteristics ofthe elevation stage (e.g., the turret 104) mounted to mounting station208.

The controller 190 is programmed with any suitable motion protocol fortesting a device under test 111 mounted to one of the base section 102or the actuation platform 167 with an accessory device(s) 110 mounted tothe other one of the base section 102 (e.g., at one or more mountinglocations 200-206) or the actuation platform 167. In another aspect, thecontroller 190 is programmed with any suitable motion control protocolfor testing multiple devices under test 111 that are mounted to morethan one mounting station 200-206 on the base section 102 with anaccessory device 110 mounted to the actuation platform 167. Oneexemplary motion protocol would be for the controller to issue commandsignals for the rotation of the rotor 103 of the azimuth stage to alignthe device under test 110 mounted to (e.g., the turret 104) with a knownmounting station location 200-206 of a desired accessory device 110mounted to the base section 102 where the known locations of both thedevice under test 111 and the desired accessory device 110 are knownfrom, for example, the calibration look-up table and the plug and playidentification of the device under test mounts and the accessory mounts.The controller 190 knowing the locations of the mounting stations andoperating under the motion protocols may generate a motion completesignal from the stage(s) being actuated (e.g., the motion completesignal may be generated by one or more of the an azimuth stagecontroller 190B, an elevation stage controller 190D, a Z-stagecontroller 190E, a projector roll assembly controller 190C) under themotion protocol (rather than call the stage position from the absoluteand incremental encoder data to determine alignment between the stationlocation and stage pose). In other aspects, encoder data may be used toverify positions of the actuated stage. A testing protocol may becommenced substantially immediately upon receipt of the motion completesignal. Here the separate motion (alignment) protocol and the testprotocol decouple the device under test 111 testing from the stagemotion control (e.g., the testing motion may be controlled from imagedata alone and position alignment is determined from the calibrationdescribed above). In other aspects, the mounting station locations200-206 may be roughly known such that minor in-situ calibration of theaccessory and device under test mounts may be performed in any suitablemanner, such as with any suitable calibration tool.

In this aspect, even though the mounting station locations 200-206 areroughly known, the controller 190 may still know which device is beingcoupled to the station locations 200-206, such as by suitableconfiguration of the controller couplings 605, 606 or in any othersuitable manner.

Referring now to FIGS. 4B, and 7A-7F, the focusing target projector110FTP that in one aspect is a focusing target projector will bedescribed. The focusing target projector incorporates a moving target toset or change apparent object distance, and to perform through-focusmeasurements at, e.g., infinity. The focusing target projector 110FTPincludes an onboard memory 789 that stores calibration settings for thetarget (such as targets 301, 302 shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 ) andilluminator of the focusing target projector 110FTP. These calibrationsettings may be communicated to the controller 190 upon connection ofthe focusing target projector 110FTP to the controller 190 in a plug andplay manner (as described above). The focusing target projector 110FTPmay be constructed of any suitable materials that provide for operationof the focusing target projector 110FTP through hundreds of thousands ofcycles (e.g., such as about 400,000 cycles or greater). The focusingtarget projector(s) may be provided with any suitable focal length suchas for example, 25 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, 60 mm, 75 mm, 100 mm, 150 mm, 200mm, or any other suitable focal length for performing tests on a deviceunder test 111. As described previously, one or more of the differentfocusing target projectors 110FTP, each with a different focal length,may be mounted (with any suitable mount such as projector roll assembly150) to one or more of the different mounting stations(s) 200-206 of themounting surface 270, or to the station on the deterministic couplingsurface 625C of the driven member 650.

As described above, the focusing target projector 110FTP includes thehousing 700F that has a coupling surface 799 that interfaces with, forexample, the projector roll assembly 150 for positionally aligning(e.g., in pitch and yaw) the focusing target projector 110P relative tothe projector roll assembly 150 interface 260 as well as positionallyaligning the focusing target projector 110P (e.g., in roll about the Xaxis) relative to, for example, a rotational home or zero position ofthe interface 283 about the X-axis. In one aspect, the projector rollassembly 150 is configured to provide linear position adjustment of theinterface 283 and the projector 110P, such as the focusing targetprojector 110FTP along the X axis. For example, the projector rollassembly 150 includes a base member 150B (on which the coupling 600 islocated) and a stanchion 150S. The base member 150B includes a prismaticjoint 150PJ (e.g., such as rails, linear bearings, dovetail joint(s),etc.). The stanchion 150S is configured to mate with the prismatic joint150PJ (e.g., includes one or more surfaces that are reciprocal to andmate with the prismatic joint) so that the stanchion is controllablymovable along the prismatic joint 150PJ in the X direction. As describedherein the controlled coupling 600 deterministically locates the, e.g.,the base 150B, of the projector roller assembly 150 to a mountingstation 200-207. The prismatic joint 150PJ is positioned on the base150B in a known relationship with respect to, for example, mechanical(e.g., kinematic) couplings 602, 604 of the base 150B so that thepositional orientation of the interface 283 (and the projector 110Pmounted thereto) is controlled to a predetermined orientation withrespect to the coupling 600. As described above, the position of theinterface 283 (and the projector 110P mounted thereto) may be calibratedso as to be known by the controller 190 and to establish a knownplacement of the interface 283 and projector 110P mounted thereto. Thebase 150B may include any suitable locking mechanism 150K to lock theposition of the stanchion 150S (and the interface 283 and projector110P) relative to the coupling 600 at any suitable location along theprismatic joint 150PJ (e.g., in the X-direction) in a mannersubstantially similar to that described above with respect to the Z-axisstage.

The focusing target projector also includes a projector assembly 701, anillumination assembly 710, and a drive assembly 720. The projectorassembly 701, the illumination assembly 710, and the drive assembly 720may be housed within the housing 700F in any suitable manner. In oneaspect, the housing 700F includes a projector portion 701P having theprojector assembly 701. The projector assembly 701 may includepredetermined lens and projector elements 701L mounted therein anddefining a projection axis CX (e.g., that is substantially coincidentwith the X axis) and having a predetermined focal location (e.g., suchas at infinity or other suitable focal location).

The illumination assembly 710 includes an illumination source 715 andobject pattern or target 301, 302 illuminated by the illumination source715 and disposed in a predetermined position relative to the projectionaxis of the projector assembly 701 so that an image of the illuminatedobject pattern projected through the projector assembly 701 out from anaperture AP of the housing 700F appears substantially at thepredetermined position relative to the projection axis CX. In greaterdetail, the illumination assembly 710 includes a bushing 711, a bearingcage 712, and a piston 713 that form a telescoping assembly for movingthe piston 713, within the bushing 711 in the X direction, anypredetermined distance D. The bearing cage 712 includes ball bearings712B and forms a preloaded bearing assembly that provides for movementof the piston 713 in the X direction substantially free from backlash.

Housed, at least partially within, the piston 713 is a target anddiffuser assembly 714 (in which the object pattern or target 301, 302 isdisposed), an illumination source 715, and a drive link assembly 716.The target and diffuser assembly 714 is mounted to a first end 713E1 ofthe piston 713. The illumination source 715 is mounted to the drive linkassembly 716 at a second end of the piston 713E2. In one aspect, theinner wall(s) of the piston, between the illumination source 715 and thetarget and diffuser assembly 714 may be coated with a diffuse whitecoating to increase light transmission and improve the spatialuniformity of the illumination across the target 300, 301. The drivelink assembly 716 is mounted to a second end 713E2 of the piston 713.The illumination assembly 710 may be mounted within the housing andbore-sighted (e.g., in roll, pitch, and yaw relative to the X axis) tothe housing 700F (such as to the coupling surface 799) in any suitablemanner such as by using lateral (front and rear) adjusters 770-773 andany suitable epoxy. In one aspect, the center of the target 301, 302 isbore-sighted to the coupling surface 799 to less than about 0.015°through a range of focus travel (see distance D in FIG. 7C) of thefocusable target projector 110FTP.

The drive link assembly 716 of the piston 713 is coupled to the driveassembly 720 in any suitable manner as will be described below. Thedrive section 720 includes a drive axis (e.g., drive motor 750) that isoperably coupled, by a coupling (as will be described below) within thehousing 700F, to the illumination assembly 710 so as to move at leastthe illuminated object pattern or target 301, 302 relative to thepredetermined focal location, of the projector assembly 701, in adirection of motion (e.g., along the X axis) aligned with the projectionaxis CX (which as noted above is coincident with the X axis) and in arange of motion D about the predetermined focal location. As will bedescribed herein, the coupling between the drive axis and theillumination assembly 710 is configured so as to maintain theilluminated object pattern or target 301, 302 substantially steady inthe predetermined position relative to the projection axis (e.g., the Xaxis) throughout the range of motion D.

In one aspect, the object pattern or target 301, 302 has a predeterminedpattern reference axis in a plane 784 normal to the projection axis CX,the reference axis in the normal plane 784 being skewed at apredetermined skew angle β with respect to a vertical axis VERT definedin the normal plane 784, wherein the coupling, between the drive axis ormotor 750 and the illumination assembly 710, is configured so as tomaintain the illuminated object pattern or target 301, 302 substantiallysteady with the pattern reference axis substantially steady at thepredetermined skew angle with respect to the vertical axis VERT (notingthat the term vertical is used for convenience here further noting thatthe axis may be vertical with the camera metrology apparatus 100arranged in the horizontal operation position and may be horizontal withthe camera metrology apparatus arranged in the vertical operatingposition), throughout the range of motion D.

The drive section 720 includes a rotary drive axis that includes anysuitable drive motor 750 (e.g., stepper motor, etc., similar to themotors described above) and a lead screw 751 coupled to a drive shaft ofthe drive motor 750 in any suitable manner. The drive link assembly 716includes a nut/ball 718 that engages the lead screw 751 such thatrotation of the lead screw 751 by the drive motor 750 causes linearmovement of the piston 713 along the X axis within the bushing 711 and abearing cage 712. The housing includes a first mounting member 707 towhich the drive motor 750 is coupled. The first mounting member 707 isconfigured such that the mounting of the drive motor 750 to the firstmounting member 707 is not registered to the housing 700F. For example,the lead screw 751 may be threaded into the nut/ball 718 while aposition of the drive motor 750 is allowed to float freely in thelateral direction. For example, the drive motor 750 may be mounted tothe first mounting member 707 through an arm 707A that is allowed topivot about axis DX to provide free floating lateral movement of thedrive motor 750, which may substantially eliminate misalignment betweenthe drive motor 750 and the piston 713 guide assembly (e.g., the bearingcage 712 and guide member 730 described below).

The drive section 720 also includes any suitable guide member 730 (e.g.,such as a precision ground pin) that is configured to interface/engagewith the drive link assembly 716 for guiding movement (in addition to orin lieu of the guidance provided by the bearing cage 712) of the piston713 along the X axis. For example, the housing includes a secondmounting member 708 where both the first mounting member 707 and thesecond mounting member 708 include guide member mounts 730M. The guidemember mounts 730M are configured to receive and secure the guide member730 from movement. The guide member mounts 730M are also configured toorient the guide member 730 along the focus axis (e.g., the X axis) ofthe focusing target projector 110FTP.

The drive link assembly 716 includes at least two bearing members 732,733 that engage the guide member 730, and form a joint commensurate witha prismatic joint, to substantially eliminate roll of the piston aboutthe focus axis (e.g., the X axis), slop and backlash of the drivesystem, so as to maintain the illuminated object pattern or target 301,302 substantially steady with the pattern reference axis substantiallysteady at the predetermined skew angle R, with respect to the verticalaxis VERT, throughout the range of motion D. In one aspect, one of thebearing members 732 is rigidly connected to the drive link assembly 716,while other bearing member 733 is spring-loaded against the guide member730 via a flexure cut into the drive link assembly 716 (or may bepreloaded against the guide member 730 in any other suitable manner,such as with springs, etc.). The coupling between the drive section 720and the illumination assembly 710 formed by the guide member 730 andbearing members 732, 733 provides position stability between theilluminated object pattern or target 301, 302 and the projection axisCX, throughout the range of motion D, commensurate with prismatic jointconfiguration stability. A biasing member 734 (such as a spring) iscoupled to the housing 700F and the drive link assembly 716 so as topreload the piston 713 against the lead screw 751 of the drive motor 750to substantially remove backlash during travel of the piston 713 in theX direction.

As described above, the guide system for the piston 713 substantiallyremoves the backlash, play, or other unwanted movement of the piston 713over the focus range of travel (e.g., the range of travel or distanceD). The following is an exemplary table illustrating the movement of thepiston 713 over the focus range of travel for different focal lengthsand different apparent distances D applicable to a metrological testsuch as, for example, modular transfer function testing. In otheraspects, the distances or focus range of travel may be more or less thanthose shown in the exemplary table, and the control provided may be moreor less than that shown in the exemplary table for any desired range oftravel to suit variance allowances based on application controlparameters.

Image Location (m): Target Position Target Axial Allowable ReticleDefocus (from collimation) for Various Image Lateral Trajectory PositionTarget Locations within the range of travel D (mm) Deviation SlopeRepeatability Rotation Focal length (mm) 8 5 2 1 0.5 (um) (um/mm) (um)(degrees) 25 0.078 0.125 0.313 0.625 1.250 6.5 5.2 +/−12 +/−0.5° 350.153 0.245 0.613 1.225 2.450 9.2 3.7 50 0.313 0.500 1.250 2.500 5.00013.1 2.6 60 0.450 0.720 1.800 3.600 7.200 15.7 2.2 75 0.703 1.125 2.8135.625 11.250 19.6 1.7 100 1.250 2.000 5.000 10.000 20.000 26.2 2.6 1502.813 4.500 11.250 22.500 45.000 39.3 3.5 200 5.000 8.000 20.000 40.00080.000 52.4 6.5

In one aspect, any suitable encoder 717 (such as a micro-encoder) may bemounted to the drive link assembly 716 for position locationdetermination of the piston 713 (and the target 301, 302) along the Xaxis. The drive section 720 may include any suitable reader 777 forreading the encoder 717 coupled to the drive link assembly 716 forgeneration of and communication of target 301, 302 position signals tothe controller 190.

While the focusing target projector 110FTP is described herein as havinga single degree of freedom (e.g., linear traverse along the X axis forfocusing) in other aspects, the focusing target projector 110FTP may beconfigured with two degrees of freedom, one being linear traverse alongthe X axis and the other being rotation of the target 301, 302 about theX axis. As such, the coupling, between the drive axis or motor 750 andthe illumination assembly 710, is configured so that the predeterminedskew angle 3 is adjustable, and the adjusted predetermined skew angle 3is maintained throughout the range of motion D. For example, the drivesection 720 may include any suitable rotational drive 769 for rotatingthe piston 713 (and the target 301, 302) about the X axis for providingrotation or roll (see FIG. 5 ) of the target 301, 302 (e.g., to adjustthe skew angle (3) relative to the camera sensor 300. In one aspect, thefirst mounting member 707 and the second mounting member 708 may bemounted in a drive axis carriage (e.g., in a manner substantiallysimilar to the piston 713 and bearing cage 712) so as to provide onlyrotation about the X axis. The drive motor 750 and the guide member 730may be mounted to the first and second mounting member 707, 708 as aboveso that they rotate with the carriage about the X axis as driven by therotational drive 769. The guide member 730 may engage the bearingmembers 732, 733 (additional rotational engagement members may also beprovided) so that the piston 713 rotates about the X axis with the driveaxis carriage to adjust the skew angle 3 as desired.

Referring also to FIG. 7G, while the focusing target projector 110FTP isdescribed above with respect to the camera metrology apparatus 100, thefocusing target projector 110FTP may be mounted to and used in anysuitable camera testing device/apparatus. For example, FIG. 7illustrates a portion of a starfield type camera testing apparatus 790where multiple target projectors 110P are mounted for substantiallysimultaneously providing targets 301, 302 across the camera sensor 300.The focusing target projector may be mounted in one or more locations ofthe starfield type camera testing apparatus 790 (with other focusingtarget projectors 110FTP and/or fixed target projectors 110TP) to, forexample, perform through-focus measurements or any other suitablemeasurements of a device under test 111.

Referring to FIGS. 8A-8D, as described above, the camera metrologyapparatus 100 may be employed in a horizontal orientation, a verticalorientation, or any other suitable orientation there between. In oneaspect, an enclosure may be provided for the camera metrology apparatus100. FIGS. 8A-8D illustrate an enclosure 800 configured to support thecamera metrology apparatus 100 in, for example, the verticalorientation. As may be realized, a similar enclosure may be provided forsupporting the camera metrology apparatus 100 while in the horizontalorientation. The enclosure 800 may have a frame 800F. The frame 800F mayinclude a base 802 and a stanchion member 803 coupled to the base 802that the stanchion member is arranged substantially vertically. Anysuitable number of casters 801 may be disposed on the base 802 so thatthe enclosure 800 is mobile (e.g., can be pushed or pulled to differentlocations as desired). The stanchion member 803 includes one or morelinear guides 811 (e.g., bearings, etc.) on which a test unit platform810 is movably mounted for linear travel along the one or more linearguides 811.

The test unit platform includes a test fixture mounting surface 813 towhich the camera metrology apparatus 100 is coupled in any suitablemanner. The test unit platform 810 may include any suitable connectionsfor coupling the camera metrology apparatus 100 to the power supply 120(which may be disposed on-board or off-board the enclosure 800. Forexample, in one aspect, the power supply 120 may be disposed at anysuitable location on the frame 800F so that the power supply 120 and theframe 800F are transported as a unit. In another aspect, the enclosuremay be connected to the power supply 120 in any suitable manner. Thetest unit platform 810 may also include any suitable connections forcoupling the camera metrology apparatus 100 to the computer 190F and/orhand held control 190G. In one aspect, the test unit platform 810 mayinclude a communications/control interface 820 that includes anysuitable connections for coupling the computer 190F (located off-boardthe enclosure 810), a hand held control 190G, and/or a power supply (iflocated off-board the enclosure 800) to the test unit platform 810. Thecommunications/control interface 820 may provide couplings from thecommunications/control interface 820 to the camera metrology apparatus100 mounted thereto in any suitable manner (such as through wiredconnectors, etc.) so that the camera metrology apparatus 100 is coupledto the coupling the computer 190F and/or hand held control 190G throughthe communications/control interface 820. In other aspects, the computer190F may be disposed onboard the enclosure 800 where thecommunications/control interface 820 may provide couplings may providecouplings for connecting a keyboard, mouse, and/or graphical userinterface to the computer 190F. In still other aspects, the keyboard,mouse, and/or graphical user interface may also be disposed onboard theenclosure in any suitable manner. In one aspect, thecommunications/control interface may include an emergency stop switch(or the emergency stop switch may be located at any suitable position onthe enclosure 810) and any suitable switching may be provided on-boardthe enclosure 810 to substantially immediate stop movement of the camerametrology apparatus 100 upon actuation of the emergency stop switch.

As noted above, the test unit platform 810 is mounted to the linearguides 811 of the stanchion member 803. This provides for heightadjustment (in direction 899) of the test unit platform 810 (and thecamera metrology apparatus 100 coupled thereto) relative to, forexample, a floor on which the enclosure 800 rests. Any suitable amountof vertical travel may be provided by the stanchion member 803 forallowing the test unit platform 810 to be positioned as any suitableheight. For example, the coupling between the stanchion member 803 andthe test unit platform 810 may provide for about 500 mm of verticaltravel, while in other aspects the amount of vertical travel providedmay be more or less than about 500 mm. A locking biasing member 830(such as a locking gas spring support member) may be provided to assist(e.g., support at least some of the weight of the test unit platform 810and the camera metrology apparatus 100) so that the test unit platform810 and the camera metrology apparatus 100 coupled thereto may be easilymoved vertically and locked in a desired vertical location.

One or more door 821, 822 is coupled to the test unit platform 810. Inone aspect the one or more door 821, 822 is removable from the test unitplatform 810. When closed the one or more door 821, 822 forms alight-tight test volume 850 with the test unit platform 810.

Referring now to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A-2C, 4A-4C, and 9 , an exemplary methodfor effecting metrology measurement of the device under test 111 withthe camera metrology apparatus 100 will be described. The methodincludes providing a camera metrology apparatus 100 as described above(FIG. 9 , Block 900). The method further includes freely selecting apredetermined platform configuration (FIG. 9 , Block 910), of theactuation platform 167, from more than one different predeterminedplatform configurations, each defining a different predeterminedconfiguration characteristic between the predetermined device under testmount interface 250 and the predetermined accessory device mountinterface (such as interface 283) coupled to the actuation platform 167effecting a different predetermined device under test 111 stimulationcharacteristic. The at least one device under test mount 140 and the atleast one accessory device mount (such as mounts 141, 150) are arrangedso as to define a repeatable relative position between the predetermineddevice under test mount interface 150 and the predetermined accessorydevice mount interface (such as interface 283) in each of the differentpredetermined platform configurations and effect free selection fromeach different predetermined platform configuration to another.Metrological measurement is performed (FIG. 9 , Block 920) on the deviceunder test 111 in any suitable manner, such as described above bycontrolling the different actuable stages of the camera metrologyapparatus 100. In addition to or in lieu of the metrological measurementperformance in Block 920, through-focus metrological measurement isperformed (FIG. 9 , Block 930) on the device under test 111 in anysuitable manner, such as described above by controlling the focusabletarget projector 110FTP.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure acamera metrology apparatus comprises:

a base section;

a drive section with multiple independent drive axes mounted to the basesection; and

an actuation platform movably mounted to the base section, the actuationplatform having

at least one camera mount, with a predetermined camera mount interfacefor a camera, and

at least one camera stimulation source mount, with a predeterminedstimulation source mount interface, and

the actuation platform being operably coupled to at least one of themultiple independent drive axes so as to generate relative motion withmore than one independent degrees of freedom between the predeterminedcamera mount interface and the predetermined stimulation source mountinterface effecting metrology measurement of the camera with each of themore than one independent degrees of freedom;

wherein the actuation platform has a selectable configuration freelyselectable between more than one different predetermined platformconfigurations, each with a different predetermined mounting locationcharacteristic changing a predetermined mounting location relative tothe actuation platform of at least one of the predetermined camera mountinterface and the stimulation source mount interface and effecting adifferent predetermined metrology measurement characteristic, and the atleast one camera mount and the at least one camera stimulation sourcemount are arranged so as to define a repeatable relative positionbetween the predetermined camera mount interface and the predeterminedstimulation source mount interface in each of the different platformconfigurations and effect free selection between each differentpredetermined platform configuration.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure the atleast one camera mount and the at least one stimulation source mount arearranged so as to define different repeatable relative positions betweenthe predetermined camera mount interface and the predeterminedstimulation source mount interface, each for a respective one of thedifferent predetermined platform configurations and differentpredetermined metrology measurement characteristic correspondingthereto.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure atleast one of the at least one camera mount and the at least onestimulation source mount is configured so as to be mounted in differentpredetermined mounting locations on an actuation stage of the actuationplatform.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure atleast one of the at least one camera mount and the at least onestimulation source mount is configured so as to be mounted in differentpredetermined mounting locations on the base section, and wherein atleast one of the more than one different predetermined platformconfigurations is defined by the at least one of the at least one cameramount and the at least one stimulation source mount mounted in at leastone of the different predetermined mounting locations on the basesection.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thebase section has more than one predetermined mounting locations thereonfor at least one of the at least one camera mount and the at least onestimulation source mount, wherein coupling of the at least one of thepredetermined camera mount interface and the predetermined stimulationsource mount interface with each of the more than one predeterminedmounting locations, of the base section, effects selection of at leastone of the more than one different predetermined platformconfigurations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, theapparatus further comprises a controller communicably connected to atleast one of the more than one predetermined mounting locations of thebase section so as to

automatically register coupling of the at least one of the at least onecamera mount and the at least one stimulation source mount to the atleast one of the more than one predetermined mounting location, and

select the at least one of the more than one different predeterminedplatform configurations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thecontroller is arranged to automatically generate parameters of therelative motion between the predetermined camera mount interface and thepredetermined stimulation source mount interface based on registrationof a selected one of the more than one different predetermined platformconfigurations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thedrive section has three independent drive axes, and the actuationplatform comprises more than one actuable stage each providing at leastone independent degree of freedom from the more than one independentdegrees of freedom of the actuation platform.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thepredetermined camera stimulation source mount comprises differentinterchangeable camera stimulation source mounts, each configured so asto be interchangeably mounted to an actuable stage of the actuationplatform or the base section, and with a different interface conformingto a different respective camera stimulation source effecting adifferent corresponding camera stimulation characteristic.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thebase section, the drive section, and the actuation platform areconfigured so that the camera metrology apparatus operates in both anupright orientation, in a horizontal orientation, and any suitableorientation there between;

wherein in the upright orientation, the base section is orientedsubstantially upright with the camera, held by the predetermined cameramount interface of the at least one camera mount, oriented with animaging sensor of the camera in a substantially horizontal orientation;and

wherein in the horizontal orientation, the base section is orientedsubstantially horizontally with the camera, held by the predeterminedcamera mount interface of the at least one camera mount, oriented withthe imaging sensor of the camera in a substantially verticalorientation.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thedrive section has at least one drive axis that includes a harmonicdrive, the at least one drive axis defining at least one of the morethan one independent degrees of freedom of the actuation platform.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure theactuation platform has two degrees of freedom driven by two independentdrive axes of the drive section, each of the two independent drive axeshaving a harmonic drive.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure atleast one of the more than one independent degrees of freedom of theactuation platform effecting the metrology measurement is actuated byone of the multiple independent drive axes arranged so as to generatesubstantially infinite rotation.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure atleast one of the multiple independent drive axes has a drive shaftincluding a slip ring power coupling.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure acamera metrology apparatus comprises:

a base section;

a drive section with multiple independent drive axes mounted to the basesection; and

an actuation platform movably mounted to the base section, the actuationplatform having

at least one camera mount, with a predetermined camera mount interfacefor a camera, and

at least one camera stimulation source mount, with a predeterminedstimulation source mount interface, and

the actuation platform being operably coupled to at least one of themultiple independent drive axes so as to generate relative motion withmore than one independent degrees of freedom between the predeterminedcamera mount interface and the predetermined stimulation source mountinterface effecting metrology measurement of the camera with each of themore than one independent degrees of freedom;

wherein the actuation platform has a selectable configuration freelyselectable between more than one different predetermined platformconfigurations, each defining a different predetermined configurationcharacteristic between the predetermined camera mount interface and thepredetermined stimulation source mount interface coupled to theactuation platform effecting a different predetermined camerastimulation characteristic, and the at least one camera mount and the atleast one camera stimulation source mount are arranged so as to define arepeatable relative position between the predetermined camera mountinterface and the predetermined stimulation source mount interface ineach of the different predetermined platform configurations and effectfree selection from each different predetermined platform configurationto another.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure the atleast one camera mount and the at least one camera stimulation sourcemount each have couplings arranged for removably coupling the at leastone camera mount and the at least one camera stimulation source mountrespectively with at least one of an actuable stage of the actuationplatform and the base section in each of the different predeterminedplatform configurations, and wherein the repeatable relative position isset upon coupling the at least one camera mount and the at least onecamera stimulation source mount with the at least one of the actuablestage and the base section.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure therepeatable relative position is set substantially automatically uponcoupling the at least one camera mount and the at least one camerastimulation source mount with the at least one of the actuable stage andthe base section and at each of the different predetermined platformconfigurations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure therepeatable relative position, set upon coupling at each of the differentpredetermined platform configurations, conforms to respective camerastimulus parameters of the different predetermined camera stimulationcharacteristic corresponding to the more than one differentpredetermined platform configurations independent of calibration betweenthe predetermined camera mount interface and the predeterminedstimulation source mount interface post coupling.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure atleast one of the at least one camera mount and the at least one camerastimulation source mount have kinematic couplings.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure atleast one of the at least one camera mount and the at least one camerastimulation source mount is configured so as to be mounted in differentpredetermined mounting locations on an actuation stage of the actuationplatform.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure atleast one of the at least one camera mount and the at least one camerastimulation source mount is configured so as to be mounted in differentpredetermined mounting locations on the base section, and wherein atleast one of the more than one different predetermined platformconfigurations is defined by the at least one of the at least one cameramount and the at least one camera stimulation source mount mounted in atleast one of the different predetermined mounting locations on the basesection.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thebase section has more than one predetermined mounting locations thereonfor at least one of the at least one camera mount and the at least onecamera stimulation source mount, wherein coupling of the at least one ofthe predetermined camera mount interface and the predeterminedstimulation source mount interface with each of the more than onepredetermined mounting locations, of the base section, effects selectionof at least one of the more than one different predetermined platformconfigurations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, theapparatus further comprises a controller communicably connected to atleast one of the more than one predetermined mounting locations of thebase section so as to

automatically register coupling of the at least one of the at least onecamera mount and the at least one camera stimulation source mount to theat least one of the more than one predetermined mounting location, and

select the at least one of the more than one different predeterminedplatform configurations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thebase section, the drive section, and the actuation platform areconfigured so that the camera metrology apparatus operates in both anupright orientation and in a horizontal orientation;

wherein in the upright orientation, the base section is orientedsubstantially upright with the camera, held by the predetermined cameramount interface of the at least one camera mount, oriented with animaging sensor of the camera in a substantially horizontal orientation;and

wherein in the horizontal orientation, the base section is orientedsubstantially horizontally with the camera, held by the predeterminedcamera mount interface of the at least one camera mount, oriented withthe imaging sensor of the camera in a substantially verticalorientation.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thedrive section has at least one drive axis that includes a harmonicdrive, the at least one drive axis defining at least one of the morethan one independent degrees of freedom of the actuation platform.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure theactuation platform has two degrees of freedom driven by two independentdrive axes of the drive section, each of the two independent drive axeshaving a harmonic drive.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure atleast one of the more than one independent degrees of freedom of theactuation platform effecting the metrology measurement is actuated byone of the multiple independent drive axes arranged so as to generatesubstantially infinite rotation.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure atleast one of the multiple independent drive axes has a drive shaftincluding a slip ring power coupling.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure amethod for effecting metrology measurement of a camera is provided. Themethod comprises:

providing a camera metrology apparatus having

a base section,

a drive section with multiple independent drive axes mounted to the basesection, and

an actuation platform movably mounted to the base section, the actuationplatform having at least one camera mount, with a predetermined cameramount interface for a camera, and at least one camera stimulation sourcemount, with a predetermined stimulation source mount interface, theactuation platform being operably coupled to at least one of themultiple independent drive axes so as to generate relative motion withmore than one independent degrees of freedom between the predeterminedcamera mount interface and the predetermined stimulation source mountinterface effecting metrology measurement of the camera with each of themore than one independent degrees of freedom; and

freely selecting a predetermined platform configuration, of theactuation platform, from more than one different predetermined platformconfigurations, each defining a different predetermined configurationcharacteristic between the predetermined camera mount interface and thepredetermined stimulation source mount interface coupled to theactuation platform effecting a different predetermined camerastimulation characteristic, and the at least one camera mount and the atleast one camera stimulation source mount are arranged so as to define arepeatable relative position between the predetermined camera mountinterface and the predetermined stimulation source mount interface ineach of the different predetermined platform configurations and effectfree selection from each different predetermined platform configurationto another.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, themethod further comprises:

removably coupling the at least one camera mount and the at least onecamera stimulation source mount respectively with at least one of anactuable stage of the actuation platform and the base section in each ofthe different predetermined platform configurations; and

setting the repeatable relative position upon coupling the at least onecamera mount and the at least one camera stimulation source mount withthe at least one of the actuable stage and the base section.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, themethod further comprises setting the repeatable relative positionsubstantially automatically upon coupling the at least one camera mountand the at least one camera stimulation source mount with the at leastone of the actuable stage and the base section and at each of thedifferent predetermined platform configurations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure therepeatable relative position, set upon coupling at each of the differentpredetermined platform configurations, conforms to respective camerastimulus parameters of the different predetermined camera stimulationcharacteristic corresponding to the more than one differentpredetermined platform configurations independent of calibration betweenthe predetermined camera mount interface and the predeterminedstimulation source mount interface post coupling.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, themethod further comprises providing at least one of the at least onecamera mount and the at least one camera stimulation source mount withkinematic couplings.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, themethod further comprises mounting at least one of the at least onecamera mount and the at least one camera stimulation source mount indifferent predetermined mounting locations on an actuation stage of theactuation platform.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, themethod further comprises mounting at least one of the at least onecamera mount and the at least one camera stimulation source mount indifferent predetermined mounting locations on the base section, andwherein at least one of the more than one different predeterminedplatform configurations is defined by the at least one of the at leastone camera mount and the at least one camera stimulation source mountmounted in at least one of the different predetermined mountinglocations on the base section.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thebase section has more than one predetermined mounting locations thereonfor at least one of the at least one camera mount and the at least onecamera stimulation source mount, the method further comprising:

effecting selection of at least one of the more than one differentpredetermined platform configurations by coupling the at least one ofthe predetermined camera mount interface and the predeterminedstimulation source mount interface with each of the more than onepredetermined mounting locations, of the base section.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, themethod further comprises:

automatically registering, with a controller communicably connected toat least one of the more than one predetermined mounting locations ofthe base section, coupling of the at least one of the at least onecamera mount and the at least one camera stimulation source mount to theat least one of the more than one predetermined mounting location; and

selecting, with the controller, the at least one of the more than onedifferent predetermined platform configurations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, themethod further comprises:

operating the camera metrology apparatus an upright orientation or in ahorizontal orientation;

wherein in the upright orientation, the base section is orientedsubstantially upright with the camera, held by the predetermined cameramount interface of the at least one camera mount, oriented with animaging sensor of the camera in a substantially horizontal orientation;and

wherein in the horizontal orientation, the base section is orientedsubstantially horizontally with the camera, held by the predeterminedcamera mount interface of the at least one camera mount, oriented withthe imaging sensor of the camera in a substantially verticalorientation.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, themethod further comprises providing the drive section with at least onedrive axis that includes a harmonic drive, the at least one drive axisdefining at least one of the more than one independent degrees offreedom of the actuation platform.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, themethod further comprises driving two degrees of freedom of the actuationplatform with two independent drive axes of the drive section where eachof the two independent drive axes are provided with a harmonic drive.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, themethod further comprises actuating at least one of the more than oneindependent degrees of freedom of the actuation platform, effecting themetrology measurement, with one of the multiple independent drive axesarranged so as to generate substantially infinite rotation.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure, themethod further comprises providing a drive shaft of at least one of themultiple independent drive axes with a slip ring power coupling.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure atarget projector apparatus for a camera metrology tool is provided. Theapparatus comprises:

a housing with a projector portion having a projector assembly ofpredetermined lens and projector elements mounted therein defining aprojection axis and having a predetermined focal location;

an illumination assembly with an illumination source and object patternilluminated by the illumination source and disposed in a predeterminedposition relative to the projection axis of the projector assembly sothat an image of the illuminated object pattern projected through theprojector assembly out from an aperture of the housing appearssubstantially at the predetermined position relative to the projectionaxis; and

a drive section with a drive axis operably coupled, by a coupling withinthe housing, to the illumination assembly so as to move at least theilluminated object pattern relative to the predetermined focal location,of the projector assembly, in a direction of motion aligned with theprojection axis and in a range of motion about the predetermined focallocation,

wherein the coupling is configured so as to maintain the illuminatedobject pattern substantially steady in the predetermined positionrelative to the projection axis throughout the range of motion.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure theobject pattern has a predetermined pattern reference axis in a planenormal to the projection axis, the reference axis in the normal planebeing skewed at a predetermined skew angle with respect to a verticalaxis defined in the normal plane, wherein the coupling is configured soas to maintain the illuminated object pattern substantially steady withthe pattern reference axis substantially steady at the predeterminedskew angle, with respect to the vertical axis, throughout the range ofmotion.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thecoupling is configured so that the predetermined skew angle isadjustable, and the adjusted predetermined skew angle is maintainedthroughout the range of motion.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thedrive axis is a stepper motor.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure thecoupling configuration provides position stability between theilluminated object pattern and projection axis, throughout the range ofmotion, commensurate with prismatic joint configuration stability.

It should be understood that the foregoing description is onlyillustrative of the aspects of the disclosed embodiment. Variousalternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in theart without departing from the aspects of the disclosed embodiment.Accordingly, the aspects of the disclosed embodiment are intended toembrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances that fallwithin the scope of the appended claims. Further, the mere fact thatdifferent features are recited in mutually different dependent orindependent claims does not indicate that a combination of thesefeatures cannot be advantageously used, such a combination remainingwithin the scope of the aspects of the disclosed embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A target projector apparatus for a camerametrology tool, the apparatus comprising: a housing with a projectorportion having a projector assembly of predetermined lens and projectorelements mounted therein defining a projection axis and having apredetermined focal location; an illumination assembly with anillumination source and object pattern illuminated by the illuminationsource and disposed in a predetermined position relative to theprojection axis of the projector assembly so that an image of theilluminated object pattern projected through the projector assembly outfrom an aperture of the housing appears substantially at thepredetermined position relative to the projection axis; and a drivesection with a drive axis operably coupled, by a coupling within thehousing, to the illumination assembly so as to move at least theilluminated object pattern relative to the predetermined focal location,of the projector assembly, in a direction of motion aligned with theprojection axis and in a range of motion about the predetermined focallocation, wherein the coupling is configured so as to maintain theilluminated object pattern substantially steady in the predeterminedposition relative to the projection axis throughout the range of motion.2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the object pattern has apredetermined pattern reference axis in a plane normal to the projectionaxis, the reference axis in the normal plane being skewed at apredetermined skew angle with respect to a vertical axis defined in thenormal plane, wherein the coupling is configured so as to maintain theilluminated object pattern substantially steady with the patternreference axis substantially steady at the predetermined skew angle,with respect to the vertical axis, throughout the range of motion. 3.The apparatus of claim of claim 2, wherein the coupling is configured sothat the predetermined skew angle is adjustable, and the adjustedpredetermined skew angle is maintained throughout the range of motion.4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drive axis is a stepper motor.5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the coupling configuration providesposition stability between the illuminated object pattern and projectionaxis, throughout the range of motion, commensurate with prismatic jointconfiguration stability.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprisinga controller coupled to the drive section, the controller configured tocommunicate determined position locations of the illumination assemblyto the drive section for moving the illuminated object pattern relativeto the predetermined focal location in the direction of motion alignedwith the projection axis and in the range of motion about thepredetermined focal location.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, furthercomprising an encoder and a reader coupled to the drive section forposition location determination of the illumination assembly, whereinthe reader is configured to read the encoder and generate targetposition signals for communication to the controller.
 8. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the drive section further includes a guide memberconfigured to engage with a drive link assembly for guiding movement ofthe illumination assembly.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein thedrive link assembly includes at least two bearing members that engagethe guide member, and form a joint commensurate with a prismatic joint.10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the guide member and the bearingmembers define the coupling between the drive section and theillumination assembly providing position stability between theilluminated object pattern and the projection axis, throughout the rangeof motion D, commensurate with prismatic joint configuration stability.11. A method for effecting metrology measurement with a target projectorapparatus, the method comprising: providing a housing with a projectorportion having a projector assembly of predetermined lens and projectorelements mounted therein defining a projection axis and having apredetermined focal location; providing an illumination assembly with anillumination source and object pattern illuminated by the illuminationsource and disposed in a predetermined position relative to theprojection axis of the projector assembly so that an image of theilluminated object pattern projected through the projector assembly outfrom an aperture of the housing appears substantially at thepredetermined position relative to the projection axis; and moving, witha drive section having a drive axis operably coupled, by a couplingwithin the housing, to the illumination assembly, at least theilluminated object pattern relative to the predetermined focal location,of the projector assembly, in a direction of motion aligned with theprojection axis and in a range of motion about the predetermined focallocation, wherein the coupling is configured so as to maintain theilluminated object pattern substantially steady in the predeterminedposition relative to the projection axis throughout the range of motion.12. The method of claim 11, wherein the object pattern has apredetermined pattern reference axis in a plane normal to the projectionaxis, the reference axis in the normal plane being skewed at apredetermined skew angle with respect to a vertical axis defined in thenormal plane, wherein the coupling is configured so as to maintain theilluminated object pattern substantially steady with the patternreference axis substantially steady at the predetermined skew angle,with respect to the vertical axis, throughout the range of motion. 13.The method of claim of claim 12, further comprising adjusting, via thecoupling, the predetermined skew angle, wherein the adjustedpredetermined skew angle is maintained throughout the range of motion.14. The method of claim 11, wherein the drive axis is a stepper motor.15. The method of claim 11, further comprising providing positionstability, via the coupling configuration, between the illuminatedobject pattern and projection axis, throughout the range of motion,commensurate with prismatic joint configuration stability.
 16. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising communicating determined positionlocations of the illumination assembly to the drive section for movingthe illuminated object pattern relative to the predetermined focallocation in the direction of motion aligned with the projection axis andin the range of motion about the predetermined focal location.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising reading, with a reader, anencoder coupled to the drive section and generating target positionsignals for communication to the controller.
 18. The method of claim 11,wherein the drive section further includes a guide member configured toengage with a drive link assembly for guiding movement of theillumination assembly.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the drivelink assembly includes at least two bearing members that engage theguide member, and form a joint commensurate with a prismatic joint. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the guide member and the bearing membersdefine the coupling between the drive section and the illuminationassembly providing position stability between the illuminated objectpattern and the projection axis, throughout the range of motion D,commensurate with prismatic joint configuration stability.